SNAKES. 61 



neck; eye moderate, pupil round; two pairs of frontals; one 

 loreal, one anterior, two posterior oculars ; temple-shields very 

 large. Scales smooth, short, rounded, in seventeen rows, hardly 

 imbricate ; anal bifid. Teeth of equal length, strong, smooth. 

 West Africa. 



1. Grayia silurophaga. 



Purplish brown, with narrow, reddish-white, black variegated 

 cross bands, widening towards the bell}'. 



a. Adult, West Africa. From Mr. Rich's Collection. 

 h. Adult. Africa. 



c. Adult. Africa. From Mr. Argent's Collection. 



d. Half-grown. Africa. 



Description. — Body rather stout, cylindrical; tail long, taper- 

 ing, not distinct from trunk ; head depressed with flat crown, and 

 rather short and rounded muzzle, distinct from neck ; eye mo- 

 derate, pupil round. Rostral shield as high as broad, rounded 

 above, just reaching the surface of head ; anterior frontals small, 

 rounded, rather pointed in front ; posterior frontals sm.ail, bent 

 on the sides, rounded behind. Vertical elongate, more than twice 

 as long as broad, with somewhat convergent and concave outer 

 edges and an acute angle behind ; occipitals moderate, divergent 

 and rounded behind; superciliary large, broad behind; two pos- 

 terior oculars, one anterior, just reaching the surface of crown ; 

 loreal moderate ; nostril somewhat raised on the surface of head, 

 between two, not distinctly separated shields. Seven upper labials, 

 only the fourth touching the eye ; first, second, third and fifth 

 being smallest; seventh largest, as long as the four foremost 

 together ; in one specimen it is separated into two, but this is 

 evidently not the rule. Temple covered with five large elongate 

 shields, two of which are in contact with oculars. Scales per- 

 fectly smooth, short, rounded, large, in seventeen rows ; anal bifid. 

 — Above greyish brown, with narrow, white and black variegated 

 bands; each scale, coming into a band, being black with a reddish- 

 white edge ; the bands are more conspicuous on the anterior 

 part of body, becoming gradually broader towards the belly; 

 belly uniform yellowish, along the medial suture of subcaudals a 

 blackish line; crown of head uniformly coloured. — Teeth nume- 

 rous, strong, of equal length, smooth. Length of cleft of mouth 

 I" ; length of tail 8" ; total length 26". 



In the stomach of two specimens I found well-preserved spe- 

 cimens of Clarias hasselquistii, of 6" length. In the specimen, 

 the measurements of which are stated, the stomach ceases six 

 inches before the anus ; the smaller intestines reach till two inches 



d2 



